Concert Program

Concert Conversations with the Guest Artists

Ticket-holders are invited to join us for Concert Conversations, starting one hour before each performance in the Blaisdell Concert Hall. JoAnn Falletta and HSO Concertmaster Iggy Jang will be there to discuss the program and to answer your questions. Concert Conversations are included with your ticket — don’t miss out!

Student rush tickets ($13) and active military discounted tickets($20) will be available at the HSO Box office with valid ID beginning December 26th

JoAnn Falletta, Conductor

JoAnn Falletta is internationally celebrated as a vibrant ambassador for music and an inspiring artistic leader. An effervescent and exuberant figure on the podium, she has been praised by The Washington Post as having “Toscanini’s tight control over ensemble, Walter’s affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski’s gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein.” Acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation,” she serves as the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center.

Ms. Falletta is invited to guest conduct many of the world’s finest orchestras. She has guest conducted over a hundred orchestras in North America, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Her North America guest conducting appearances have included the orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Seattle, San Diego, and the National Symphony as well as Montreal and Toronto. International appearances include the London Symphony, Liverpool and Manchester-BBC Philharmonics, Scottish BBC Orchestra, Czech and Rotterdam Philharmonics, Orchestra National de Lyon, Mannheim Orchestra and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra.Read More>>

Rachel Schutz, Soprano

Hailed for her “diamantine high notes, witty characterization, and giddily delirious coloratura” (Boston Globe), Welsh-born soprano Rachel Schutz is increasingly in demand for her sensitive and evocative performances and wide range of repertoire. She is active both in the opera house and on the concert stage, having performed extensively around the United States, Europe and Asia. In 2016, Ms. Schutz won first place the 44th NATS Artist Award Competition, third place in the Jensen Foundation Competition, and was a finalist in the Hans Gabor Belvedere competition. Recent operatic roles have included Papagena, Diana (Siren Song) and Johanna (Sweeney Todd) with Hawai’i Opera Theater, Thérèse (Les mamelles de Tirésias) and Jessie (Mahagonny Songspiel) with Opera Paralèlle, Susanna and Adele (Die Fledermaus) with Stockton Opera, and Blondchen and Musetta with Stony Brook Opera. A seasoned recitalist and concert singer known for her “communicative zest,” Ms. Schutz has been heard at the Ravinia Festival under the direction of James Conlon, with the Hawai’i Symphony and Riverside Symphony Orchestras, at the Ojai Festival, at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, on the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series, with the Boston Pops Orchestra, and at venues around China, Taiwan, Korea, and Thailand. She has also been featured on Hawai’i’s KHPR and Chicago’s WFMT, and can be heard on “Elements,” an Albany Records album of contemporary American music. As an avid supporter of new music, Ms. Schutz enjoys close working relationships with many young composers, and has worked with Milton Babbitt, William Bolcom, Libby Larsen, Augusta Read-Thomas, Peter Winkler, and Thomas Osborne on their music. Ms. Schutz was a two-time Santa Fe Opera Apprentice and Tanglewood Fellow, and holds degrees from Stony Brook University and Bard College.

Charlene Chi, Mezzo-Soprano

A native of Toronto, Canada, Charlene Chi completed her doctoral degree at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, in Vocal PerformanceShe is an active performer of operatic, chamber and concert repertoire in Honolulu, Hawaii area. Previously she was heavily active in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas, and has also provided solo recitals in the Pacific Northwest, Denver, Canada, Korea, Germany and Italy. Recently, Charlene appeared as a guest soloist in Rome’s Basilica de Santa Maria del Popolo, performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with three women’s choruses, conducted by Maestro Fabrizio Fucile. She also collaborated with celebrated Vatican organist Maestro Giancarlo Libertucci to present the newly restored and historically significant organ and mural in Bologna. In 2014, Charlene was honoured to be only the second singer ever to record her debut CD at the world renowned Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy.

In April 2010, Charlene had her debut at the legendary Walt Disney Concert Hall as the Alto Soloist for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, to a full house in Los Angeles, California. She also appeared as a featured soloist at the funeral of the late President of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung, where she had the honour of premiering a solo cantata which was composed specifically for the occasion.

In 2009, Charlene was a competition winner of the Beverly Hills Chamber Music Series. She was a first-prize winner of the Bohemian Opera Association of Los Angeles vocal competition. A recipient of the highly-acclaimed Léni Fé Bland Vocal Scholarship, she has also been honoured with numerous awards such as the USC Jeannette MacDonald Opera Scholarship, Marilyn Horne Scholarship for Vocal Performance, Flora L. Thornton Endowed Voice Scholarship Award, and was a recipient of the Arques Charitable Trust Fellowship. Charlene had received a special congressional recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives and the County of Los Angeles for her active involvement as a performer in the cultural musical development of the Korean-American community.

Kip Wilborn, Tenor

American tenor Kip Wilborn has enjoyed a career that has flourished in both North America and Europe. Versatile and accomplished in the classical repertoire, his credits as a leading operatic tenor include engagements in opera houses such as San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Cleveland Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera, Volksoper Vienna, Trieste’s Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Essen’s Aalto Theater, Berlin’s Theater des Westens, Dublin Grand Opera, and Wexford Festival. Favorite roles within his repertoire include Cavaradossi in TOSCA, Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Calaf in TURANDOT, Pelléas in PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE, Don José in CARMEN, Turiddu in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, and Siegmund in DIE WALKÜRE.

On the concert stage, he has performed as a soloist with various orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra (at Alice Tully Hall), Utah Symphony, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra of Moscow, Theater im Pfalzbau Orchestra, Lehar International Orchestra, and Irish Radio Symphony. His oratorio repertoire includes Mozart’s REQUIEM, Beethoven’s NINTH SYMPHONY and MASS IN C, Handel’s MESSIAH, Mendelssohn’s SAINT PAUL, and Verdi’s REQUIEM.

Jeremy M. Wong, Baritone

Baritone Jeremy M. Wong is rapidly building a name for himself as a soloist and ensemble singer on both the international and U.S. stages. He made his European debut in March of 2015 singing as both soloist and chorister with the Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble (JSB Ensemble) in Stuttgart, Germany under Maestro Hans-Christoph Rademann and Kathy Saltzman Romey. Since then, he has been invited back to Germany twice more to sing as a chorister with the Weimar Bach Cantata Academy under the baton of maestro Helmuth Rilling. Domestically, he has sung as a core member of the Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival under the direction of Matthew Halls and Maestro Rilling, where he sang in the world premiere of James MacMillan’s A European Requiem, alongside performances of masterworks by the great composers. Locally, Jeremy regularly collaborates with Early Music Hawai‘i as conductor, soloist, and chorister, and has performed numerous solos with the Bach Chamber Orchestra and Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir. A burgeoning interpreter of new music, he has originated solos in the world premiere of Robinson McClellan’s Trinity Dancing Cantata and the Hawai‘i premiere of Zachary Wadsworth’s The Passion According to St. John. Concert highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra (JoAnn Falleta), Bach’s Magnificat with the O‘ahu Choral Society and Kona Choral Society (Esther S. Yoo and Susan McCreary Duprey, respectively), Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music and Dona Nobis Pacem with the Choirs and Orchestra of UH Mānoa (Miguel Ángel Felipe), Handel’s Messiah with the Maui Chamber Orchestra (Robert E. Wills), and recitals of German Lieder and American artsong at UH Mānoa.

About The Oʻahu Choral Society

The O`ahu Choral Society (OCS) consists of 100 singers from all walks of life, from young adults to kupuna, all united by their talent and love for classical music and choral singing. Our mission is to present the highest quality performances of great choral music for the enjoyment and enrichment of the community of Hawaiʻi , to be a passionate leader and contributor to the cultural and artistic vitality and spirit of Hawaiʻi , and to support and cultivate the love and appreciation for choral music.

Originally founded in 1978 as the Honolulu Symphony Chorus, the O`ahu Choral Society performs major choral works with full orchestra, as well as smaller works with chamber ensembles, organ, and piano. OCS also frequently joins with other arts organizations in the community to deliver choral music for the entire family.Read More>>